Leading Shoreditch Restaurant Will Open Borough Market Bakery and Wine Bar

Chef James Lowe and general manager business partner John Ogier — the two owners of Shoreditch’s hyper hip, British low-key fine-dining restaurant Lyle’s — will open a second site in the new year.

A wine bar and bakery called Flor will open at 1 Bedale Street, on the edge of Borough Market, near London Bridge. The duo are aiming to open in spring/summer of 2019.

“Flor is a wine bar and bakery, and we like to think of her as the little sister of Lyle’s — a place we would want to go after work or on a day off. It will be a small place with a big personality,” Lowe said.

“It’s inspired by the buvettes of Paris and pintxos bars in San Sebastian, with bread being an integral part of the offering — baked goods in the morning, sandwiches at lunch and flatbreads at dinner. All bread and viennoiserie is made in-house, from British wheat which is milled at Lyle’s.”

Flor will serve lunch (including brunch on Saturday) and dinner Monday to Saturday. All bread and pastries can be purchased on site to take away.

Lyle’s opened in 2014 a collaboration between two ex-St John Bread and Wine colleagues. It was Lowe’s solo debut, and followed a collaboration with The Clove Club’s Isaac McHale — the pair, together with chef Ben Greeno, made up the Young Turks collective. The three were among the first in the U.K. to roll-out ‘New Nordic’ best-practice, acquired while working at Noma under Rene Redzepi in Copenhagen.

Lowe says that all the produce at Flor, including the wine, will come from “agriculturally responsible locations” — many of the same producers or suppliers as at Lyle’s. “The food will be very different from Lyle’s but still coming from the same common-sense philosophy and love of good ingredients,” he added.

Lyle’s won a Michelin star in 2016 and this year placed at number 38 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list. Although it may not have earned the same sort of universal adoration which greets The Clove Club, its unique blend of bold British heritage, sprightly Nordic minimalism, and the incorporation of both American and Japanese culinary traditions has cemented its place in the hearts of both locals and restaurant-collector global gastrotourists.

The new restaurant, like Lyle’s, is backed by Gymkhana owners, JKS Restaurants, a group already shaping up to have another busy year. Taiwanese fast casual shop Bao will open its third site, backed by JKS, also in Borough in the spring. In 2018, the company opened the huge Indian sports bar and grill Brigadiers at the Bloomberg Arcade in the City, Tehran street food-inspired Berenjak in Soho, and the now-Michelin-starred Sabor, by Nieves Barragàn Mohacho on Heddon Street in Mayfair.

Check back for further details in the new year.